This chapter focuses on Camille Saint-SaËns. Saint-SaËns was a master of the organ and piano and their repertories, and a gifted composer at the fin de siècle. He was involved in editorial projects ...
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This chapter focuses on Camille Saint-SaËns. Saint-SaËns was a master of the organ and piano and their repertories, and a gifted composer at the fin de siècle. He was involved in editorial projects for the works of Gluck and Rameau, and was an inveterate traveller who, in the course of his career, visited places as diverse as Egypt, Ceylon, California, and Argentina as either tourist or performer, or both. It is argued that his exploration of other repertories and cultures was not fired by modernist ideals of progress or critical questioning and ironic scrutiny of his own heritage and musical language, but was driven by creative curiosity within a context of overt allegiance to classical models and aesthetic principles. The construction of an antidote to Wagner also played its role in Saint-SaËns's musical peregrinations.Less

Camille Saint‐SaËns, Gounod, and the Wagnerians

Steven Huebner

Published in print: 2005-11-10

This chapter focuses on Camille Saint-SaËns. Saint-SaËns was a master of the organ and piano and their repertories, and a gifted composer at the fin de siècle. He was involved in editorial projects for the works of Gluck and Rameau, and was an inveterate traveller who, in the course of his career, visited places as diverse as Egypt, Ceylon, California, and Argentina as either tourist or performer, or both. It is argued that his exploration of other repertories and cultures was not fired by modernist ideals of progress or critical questioning and ironic scrutiny of his own heritage and musical language, but was driven by creative curiosity within a context of overt allegiance to classical models and aesthetic principles. The construction of an antidote to Wagner also played its role in Saint-SaËns's musical peregrinations.

With the publication of his Lettres intimes, people have begun to talk once again of Berlioz's venomous nature and bad character. This chapter holds, however that Berlioz was not a cunning person: he ...
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With the publication of his Lettres intimes, people have begun to talk once again of Berlioz's venomous nature and bad character. This chapter holds, however that Berlioz was not a cunning person: he was sincere, and said what was in his heart and his head without thinking about the consequences. It suggests that Berlioz was too fond of Shakespeare, Byron and Goethe, and he unwittingly admitted the fact. It was Lélio that gave Camille Saint–Saëns the opportunity to meet the great man and to win his valuable friendship.Less

Roger Nichols

Published in print: 2008-10-27

With the publication of his Lettres intimes, people have begun to talk once again of Berlioz's venomous nature and bad character. This chapter holds, however that Berlioz was not a cunning person: he was sincere, and said what was in his heart and his head without thinking about the consequences. It suggests that Berlioz was too fond of Shakespeare, Byron and Goethe, and he unwittingly admitted the fact. It was Lélio that gave Camille Saint–Saëns the opportunity to meet the great man and to win his valuable friendship.

Owing to the difficulties of the times, composers have become peculiarly complicated creatures, as if they were small-scale diplomats: they pretend endlessly. This chapter holds, however, that ...
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Owing to the difficulties of the times, composers have become peculiarly complicated creatures, as if they were small-scale diplomats: they pretend endlessly. This chapter holds, however, that Georges Bizet was not like that at all. His life of frankness, even if it was brutal, was plain to see; he was loyal and sincere, and honest about his likes and dislikes. There was a similarity of character between him and Camille Saint–Saëns, the author, that brought them together. In all other respects, they were utterly different and pursued different ideals: Bizet was in search, above all, of passion and life; Saint–Saëns was chasing the chimaera of stylistic purity and formal perfection. For Saint–Saëns, Bizet was not a rival; he was a brother in arms.Less

Roger Nichols

Published in print: 2008-10-27

Owing to the difficulties of the times, composers have become peculiarly complicated creatures, as if they were small-scale diplomats: they pretend endlessly. This chapter holds, however, that Georges Bizet was not like that at all. His life of frankness, even if it was brutal, was plain to see; he was loyal and sincere, and honest about his likes and dislikes. There was a similarity of character between him and Camille Saint–Saëns, the author, that brought them together. In all other respects, they were utterly different and pursued different ideals: Bizet was in search, above all, of passion and life; Saint–Saëns was chasing the chimaera of stylistic purity and formal perfection. For Saint–Saëns, Bizet was not a rival; he was a brother in arms.

This chapter presents Camille Saint–Saëns’ letter to George Docquois, telling him the reasons for not writing a preface to introduce Docquois’ poetical thoughts and collected verse plays. It holds ...
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This chapter presents Camille Saint–Saëns’ letter to George Docquois, telling him the reasons for not writing a preface to introduce Docquois’ poetical thoughts and collected verse plays. It holds that is generally acknowledged that writers, without knowing anything about music, are qualified to judge it, but that musicians on the contrary, however literate they may be, have no rights in the field of literature.Less

Roger Nichols

Published in print: 2008-10-27

This chapter presents Camille Saint–Saëns’ letter to George Docquois, telling him the reasons for not writing a preface to introduce Docquois’ poetical thoughts and collected verse plays. It holds that is generally acknowledged that writers, without knowing anything about music, are qualified to judge it, but that musicians on the contrary, however literate they may be, have no rights in the field of literature.

Meg Lota Brown and Camille Slights have considered how metaphysical poetry relates to that form of Stuart ethical discussion known as case casuistry, where individual situations are considered in ...
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Meg Lota Brown and Camille Slights have considered how metaphysical poetry relates to that form of Stuart ethical discussion known as case casuistry, where individual situations are considered in detail against a moral law by a well-meaning and well-instructed judge. Early modern theologians habitually see the conscience acting as a syllogism. This chapter considers the features of the conscience operating this syllogism, including its self-reflexive qualities, its effect on the self's agency, its role as spy and recorder, and where the law it refers to is consulted. The three principal faults of the conscience (erring, seared, and blind) are explained from the point of view of Protestant Ramist casuistry rather than that of contemporary Catholic treatises. Judgement should be a practical method of mediating between human perceptions and divine attributes. The latter are a central subject of debate among theologians such as Thomas Jackson and William Ames. Describing as litotes what would be seen as hyperbole if it were not about God is one method poets and theologians alike use for this impossible task. The chapter suggests the five tropes which the book concentrates on provide other means of speaking with God.Less

The Conscience as a Syllogism

Ceri Sullivan

Published in print: 2008-09-11

Meg Lota Brown and Camille Slights have considered how metaphysical poetry relates to that form of Stuart ethical discussion known as case casuistry, where individual situations are considered in detail against a moral law by a well-meaning and well-instructed judge. Early modern theologians habitually see the conscience acting as a syllogism. This chapter considers the features of the conscience operating this syllogism, including its self-reflexive qualities, its effect on the self's agency, its role as spy and recorder, and where the law it refers to is consulted. The three principal faults of the conscience (erring, seared, and blind) are explained from the point of view of Protestant Ramist casuistry rather than that of contemporary Catholic treatises. Judgement should be a practical method of mediating between human perceptions and divine attributes. The latter are a central subject of debate among theologians such as Thomas Jackson and William Ames. Describing as litotes what would be seen as hyperbole if it were not about God is one method poets and theologians alike use for this impossible task. The chapter suggests the five tropes which the book concentrates on provide other means of speaking with God.

This book investigates the lives and writings of four women incarcerated in French psychiatric hospitals in the second half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The renowned ...
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This book investigates the lives and writings of four women incarcerated in French psychiatric hospitals in the second half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The renowned sculptor (and mistress of Rodin) Camille Claudel, the musician Hersilie Rouy, the feminist activist Marie Esquiron, and the self‐proclaimed mystic and eccentric Pauline Lair Lamotte, all left first‐hand accounts of their experiences. These rare and unsettling documents provide the foundation for a unique insight into the experience of psychiatric breakdown and treatment from the patient's viewpoint. By linking the question of gender to the process of medical diagnosis made by contemporary clinicians such as Sigmund Freud, this book is a text‐based analysis, which argues that psychiatric medicine functioned as an integral part of an essentially misogynistic and oppressive society. It suggests that partially delusional narratives such as these may be read as metaphorical representations of real suffering. The construction of these narratives constituted an act of resistance by the women who wrote them, and they prefigure the feminist revisionist histories of psychiatry that appeared later in the twentieth century. Straddling the disciplines of literature and social history, and based on extensive archival research, this book makes an important contribution to the feminist project of writing women back into literary history. It brings to light a fascinating but hitherto unrecognized literary tradition in the prehistory of psychoanalysis: the psychiatric memoir.Less

Voices from the Asylum : Four French Women Writers, 1850-1920

Susannah Wilson

Published in print: 2010-08-26

This book investigates the lives and writings of four women incarcerated in French psychiatric hospitals in the second half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The renowned sculptor (and mistress of Rodin) Camille Claudel, the musician Hersilie Rouy, the feminist activist Marie Esquiron, and the self‐proclaimed mystic and eccentric Pauline Lair Lamotte, all left first‐hand accounts of their experiences. These rare and unsettling documents provide the foundation for a unique insight into the experience of psychiatric breakdown and treatment from the patient's viewpoint. By linking the question of gender to the process of medical diagnosis made by contemporary clinicians such as Sigmund Freud, this book is a text‐based analysis, which argues that psychiatric medicine functioned as an integral part of an essentially misogynistic and oppressive society. It suggests that partially delusional narratives such as these may be read as metaphorical representations of real suffering. The construction of these narratives constituted an act of resistance by the women who wrote them, and they prefigure the feminist revisionist histories of psychiatry that appeared later in the twentieth century. Straddling the disciplines of literature and social history, and based on extensive archival research, this book makes an important contribution to the feminist project of writing women back into literary history. It brings to light a fascinating but hitherto unrecognized literary tradition in the prehistory of psychoanalysis: the psychiatric memoir.

This chapter examines late medieval aristocratic French women's patronage of writing in the vernacular and of translation. It discusses Christine de Pizan and educated women in 15th-century France. ...
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This chapter examines late medieval aristocratic French women's patronage of writing in the vernacular and of translation. It discusses Christine de Pizan and educated women in 15th-century France. It also considers the reception of humanism at the French court, and the involvement of royal women as educators and scholars, particularly Marguerite de Navarre, Marguerite de Valois, and Mary Stuart. Non-royal women humanists connected with the French court, especially the scholar-courtier Camille de Morel and her relationship with the poets of the Pléiade, are discussed. The rise of academies at the court and in Lyons, and the involvement of women are explored, together with the importance of Lyons as a provincial center, the Mesdames Des Roches, and Louise Labé. Marie de Gournay is presented as an unusual example of the autodidact Latinist.Less

Women and Latin in Renaissance France

Jane Stevenson

Published in print: 2005-05-19

This chapter examines late medieval aristocratic French women's patronage of writing in the vernacular and of translation. It discusses Christine de Pizan and educated women in 15th-century France. It also considers the reception of humanism at the French court, and the involvement of royal women as educators and scholars, particularly Marguerite de Navarre, Marguerite de Valois, and Mary Stuart. Non-royal women humanists connected with the French court, especially the scholar-courtier Camille de Morel and her relationship with the poets of the Pléiade, are discussed. The rise of academies at the court and in Lyons, and the involvement of women are explored, together with the importance of Lyons as a provincial center, the Mesdames Des Roches, and Louise Labé. Marie de Gournay is presented as an unusual example of the autodidact Latinist.

This chapter considers the case of the sculptor Camille Claudel, Rodin's most famous lover who, despite her enormous talent, was committed to an asylum in 1913 where she would die 30 years later. ...
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This chapter considers the case of the sculptor Camille Claudel, Rodin's most famous lover who, despite her enormous talent, was committed to an asylum in 1913 where she would die 30 years later. This analysis considers two pieces of Claudel's correspondence from 1909 and 1917–18, respectively. The first letter from Camille to her brother (the French poet Paul Claudel), written before her committal to the asylum, is strongly themed along the lines of her feelings of persecution by Rodin. The second letter from Claudel to Docteur Michaux, the doctor who wrote her ‘certificat d'internement’, gives a detailed and compelling account of the reality of her artistically unproductive and pitiful life in the asylum, and appears—superficially, at least—as an attempt at a more plausibly ‘sane’ request for clemency on the part of the medical establishment. The chapter argues that Claudel's delusions of persecution are a metaphorical representation of the genuine suffering and injustice that she endured in a society antagonistic to the potential achievements of women artists.Less

Camille Claudel: ‘Du rêve que fut ma vie, ceci est le cauchemar’

Susannah Wilson

Published in print: 2010-08-26

This chapter considers the case of the sculptor Camille Claudel, Rodin's most famous lover who, despite her enormous talent, was committed to an asylum in 1913 where she would die 30 years later. This analysis considers two pieces of Claudel's correspondence from 1909 and 1917–18, respectively. The first letter from Camille to her brother (the French poet Paul Claudel), written before her committal to the asylum, is strongly themed along the lines of her feelings of persecution by Rodin. The second letter from Claudel to Docteur Michaux, the doctor who wrote her ‘certificat d'internement’, gives a detailed and compelling account of the reality of her artistically unproductive and pitiful life in the asylum, and appears—superficially, at least—as an attempt at a more plausibly ‘sane’ request for clemency on the part of the medical establishment. The chapter argues that Claudel's delusions of persecution are a metaphorical representation of the genuine suffering and injustice that she endured in a society antagonistic to the potential achievements of women artists.

Camille Saint–Saëns is a memorable figure not only for his successes as a composer of choral and orchestral works, and the eternally popular opera Samson et Dalila, but also because he was a keen ...
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Camille Saint–Saëns is a memorable figure not only for his successes as a composer of choral and orchestral works, and the eternally popular opera Samson et Dalila, but also because he was a keen observer of the musical culture in which he lived. A composer of vast intelligence and erudition, Saint–Saëns was at the same time one of the foremost writers on music in his day. From Wagner, Liszt and Debussy to Milhaud and Stravinsky, Saint–Saëns was at the center of the elite musical and cultural fin de siecle and early 20th Century world. He championed Schumann and Wagner in France at a period when these composers were regarded as dangerous subversives whose music should be kept well away from the impressionable student. Yet Saint–Saëns himself had no aspirations to being a revolutionary, and his appreciation of Wagner the composer was tempered by his reservations over Wagner the philosopher and dramatist. Whether defending Meyerbeer against charges of facility or Berlioz against those who questioned his harmonic grasp, Saint–Saëns was always his own man: in both cases, he claimed, it was “not the absence of faults but the presence of virtues” that distinguishes the good composer. Saint–Saëns’ writings provide a well-argued counter-discourse to the strong modernist music critics who rallied around Debussy and Ravel during the fin de siecle. And above all, they demonstrate a brilliantly sharp and active brain, expressing itself through prose of a Classical purity and balance, enlivened throughout with flashes of wit and, at times, of sheer malice.Less

Camille Saint-Saëns : On Music and Musicians

Published in print: 2008-10-27

Camille Saint–Saëns is a memorable figure not only for his successes as a composer of choral and orchestral works, and the eternally popular opera Samson et Dalila, but also because he was a keen observer of the musical culture in which he lived. A composer of vast intelligence and erudition, Saint–Saëns was at the same time one of the foremost writers on music in his day. From Wagner, Liszt and Debussy to Milhaud and Stravinsky, Saint–Saëns was at the center of the elite musical and cultural fin de siecle and early 20th Century world. He championed Schumann and Wagner in France at a period when these composers were regarded as dangerous subversives whose music should be kept well away from the impressionable student. Yet Saint–Saëns himself had no aspirations to being a revolutionary, and his appreciation of Wagner the composer was tempered by his reservations over Wagner the philosopher and dramatist. Whether defending Meyerbeer against charges of facility or Berlioz against those who questioned his harmonic grasp, Saint–Saëns was always his own man: in both cases, he claimed, it was “not the absence of faults but the presence of virtues” that distinguishes the good composer. Saint–Saëns’ writings provide a well-argued counter-discourse to the strong modernist music critics who rallied around Debussy and Ravel during the fin de siecle. And above all, they demonstrate a brilliantly sharp and active brain, expressing itself through prose of a Classical purity and balance, enlivened throughout with flashes of wit and, at times, of sheer malice.

This chapter examines the anti-imperialist campaigns in the Middle East led by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. It discusses the participation of the United States and Britain to counter ...
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This chapter examines the anti-imperialist campaigns in the Middle East led by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. It discusses the participation of the United States and Britain to counter efforts to overthrow Lebanese President Camille Chamoun and to save both Lebanon and Jordan from Nasser and Arab radicalism. The chapter explains that the United States' relationship with Israel started to warm up, with the acquisition of U.S. weaponry at the top of the Israeli agenda.Less

My Enemy's Special Friend

Jeremy Salt

Published in print: 2008-09-07

This chapter examines the anti-imperialist campaigns in the Middle East led by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. It discusses the participation of the United States and Britain to counter efforts to overthrow Lebanese President Camille Chamoun and to save both Lebanon and Jordan from Nasser and Arab radicalism. The chapter explains that the United States' relationship with Israel started to warm up, with the acquisition of U.S. weaponry at the top of the Israeli agenda.